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False hope for HIV cure

A second child thought to have been cured of HIV has relapsed. The Italian boy had tested negative for HIV after receiving aggressive drug treatment from birth, but the virus returned two weeks after doctors stopped his treatment at age 3. Doctors say tests need to improve to detect tiny reservoirs of the virus. In July another “cured” child also relapsed.

Carbon coffin

Carbon is finally going underground instead of heating the planet. Last week the Boundary Dam complex in Saskatchewan, Canada, became the first commercial power station to open a carbon capture and storage facility. It will pump 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into nearby oilfields and aquifers each year, equivalent to taking 250,000 cars off the road.

Enterovirus toll

A 4 year old is the first person to have died from enterovirus D68 – the respiratory illness sweeping across the US. It is thought that 594 people in 43 states have been diagnosed with the virus, which has no specific treatment. The virus has also been detected in four other people who died, although its role in their deaths has not been confirmed.

Bye-bye baggy

California has become the first US state to ban single-use plastic bags. The law, which will eliminate an estimated 13 billion bags per year, was signed by the state governor on 30 September, but won’t come into force until next July.

Speedy decline

Cheetahs lose more energy looking for prey than in chasing it down. A study of how cheetahs use energy suggests that the cats’ rapid population decline may be due to human effects on their prey (Science, doi.org/v6w). As prey has become more scarce, cheetahs have had to waste more energy finding food.